The 2026 Elevating Cougs conference is one week away! We’re looking forward to gathering virtually for another year of peer-led professional development and training, made for and by Cougs.
If you’re planning to attend, here’s what you need to know before you go:
The Zoom events platform
Elevating Cougs is a 100% virtual event. Registered attendees may access the conference platform on Zoom and explore and bookmark sessions to create their conference experience in advance. On conference day(s), you’ll return to this platform to attend your saved sessions.
While the conference main page is accessible to all WSU staff, you must be registered in order to bookmark and attend sessions. Haven’t registered? Sign up to gain full access to sessions.
Access the conference platform here.
Sessions and conference tracks
This year, we’ve debuted four brand new learning tracks featuring knowledge, skill-building, and support tailored to the WSU employee experience. These tracks cover soft and technical skills, and practical how-to’s employees can implement immediately to improve their experience at WSU. Attendees can mix and match from nearly 40 unique sessions to create their conference experience.
Not sure where to start? Here’s four ways to learn more about this year’s tracks and sessions and start building your schedule:
- Learn more about each individual learning track on this page.
- Explore a complete list of sessions.
- Take the Learning Tracks Personality Quiz to learn which track aligns with the topics and learning experiences you enjoy most.
- Follow one of nine Tailored Schedules, featuring recommended sessions to meet a variety of learning goals.
To check out these schedules in the conference, make sure you are registered for the event, then on the Sessions page select an option from the “Audience” dropdown at the top of the page. From the resulting list, you can bookmark the sessions you plan to attend. The Itinerary page shows your bookmarked sessions in a calendar layout.
Ground rules & etiquette
Let’s work together to ensure Elevating Cougs is a positive, supportive learning environment for all. We ask that attendees practice respectful, constructive conduct and conversation throughout the event, and while using the platforms’ chat and Q&A features.
Q&A, session materials, and recordings
Each presenter and moderator will review their session’s Q&A format at the beginning of their presentation. Depending on presenter’s preferences, questions may be submitted via the chat or Q&A feature.
Some sessions feature resources, such as slide decks and other materials, that will be available for download during the presentation. Moderators will review instructions for downloading these items during each session.
If you missed a session or would like to review or share a favorite session you attended, 2026 recordings and resources will be made available in Percipio. We’ll notify attendees when these recordings become accessible in November.
Conference feedback
Part of Elevating Cougs is gathering your thoughts and ideas on how to make next year’s conference better.
You’ll have the opportunity to share your feedback about the sessions you attend in a brief questionnaire following each presentation, as well as about the broader conference through a longer survey that we’ll send after the conference ends.
If you have urgent or sensitive questions or concerns during the conference, reach out to the Elevating Cougs team at hrstraining@wsu.edu. Session moderators will also provide links for conference platform support and other questions during each session.
See you at Elevating Cougs!